English billiards, called simply billiards in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

and in many

former British colonies Below are lists of the countries and territories formerly ruled or administered by The United Kingdom or part of the British Empire (including military occupations that did not retain the pre-war central government), with their independence days. ...

, is a cue sport that combines the aspects of

carom billiards Carom billiards, sometimes called carambole billiards, is the overarching title of a family of cue sports generally played on cloth-covered, billiard tables. In its simplest form, the object of the game is to score or "counts" by ' one's o ...

and pool. Two (one white and one yellow) and a red are used. Each player or team uses a different cue ball. It is played on a billiards table with the same dimensions as one used for

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six pockets, one at each corner and one in the middle of each long side. First played by British Army officers stationed in ...

and points are scored for and pocketing the balls.

History

English billiards originated in England, and was originally called the ''winning and losing carambole game'', folding in the names of three predecessor games, ''the winning game'', ''the losing game'', and an early form of

that combined to form it. The winning game was played with two white balls, and was a 12- contest. To start, the player who could strike a ball at one end of the table and get the ball to come to rest nearest the opposite cushion without lying against it earned the right to shoot for points first. This is the origin of the modern custom of "" (or ""). A player who pocketed the opponent's ball scored two points, as is still the case in modern billiards. A player missing the opponent's ball, considered a , added one point to the opponent's total; the shooter conceded two points if their own ball went into a pocket after striking the opponent's ball; and the player conceded three points if the cue ball was pocketed without even hitting the opponent's ball. These rules continued to exist in English billiards until 1983, when a standard of two points for all fouls was introduced. By contrast, in the losing game a player could only score two points by pocketing the cue ball through a off the opponent's ball. "" and "" are terms still mentioned in the official rules for these two fundamental shot types, although "" and "" have become the usual terms for them in

British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Oxford Dictionaries, "English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in England, or, more broadl ...

. The final element was the ' (or ) shot, which came from

, a game popular in various countries of western

Continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...

, especially France, and in many parts of Asia and South America. In the 1700s, the carom game added a red to the two white cue balls, and dispensed with the pockets. This ball was adopted into the English game, which retained the pockets, and the goal was to cannon off both the red and the opponent's ball on a single shot, earning 2 points. This influence on the English game appears to have come about through the popularity of French tables in English coffee houses; London alone had over two thousand such establishments in the early 18th century. One period advertisement read: "A very good French Billiard Table, little the worse for wearing, full size, with all the materials fit for French or English play". The three ancestral games had their British heyday in the 1770s, but had combined into English billiards, with a 16-point score total, by approximately 1800. The skill required in playing these games helped retire the in favour of the

cue stick A cue stick (or simply cue, more specifically billiards cue, pool cue, or snooker cue) is an item of sporting equipment essential to the games of pool, snooker and carom billiards. It is used to strike a ball, usually the . Cues are tapered ...

. There are a number of pocket billiard games directly descended from English billiards, including bull dog, scratch pool, thirty-one pool and thirty-eight. The last of these gave rise to the more well-known game

cowboy pool Cowboy pool (or simply cowboy) is a hybrid pool game combining elements of English billiards through an intermediary game, with more standard pocket billiards characteristics. The game employs four balls, the cue ball and three others, numbered ...

. English Billiards was virtually unknown in the United States until 1913, when Melbourn Inman visited the US and played the game against

Willie Hoppe William Frederick Hoppe (October 11, 1887 – February 1, 1959) (surname rhymes with "poppy"), was an internationally renowned American professional carom billiards champion, who was posthumously inducted into the Billiard Congress of America ...

. By 1915 the game had become rather popular, prompting American billiard hall proprietors of the period to increase the number of English-style tables in their establishments. It also became favored in British colonies; the game's longest-running champion was an Australian,

Walter Lindrum Walter Albert Lindrum, OBE (29 August 1898 – 30 July 1960), often known as Wally Lindrum, was an Australian professional player of English billiards who held the World Professional Billiards Championship from 1933 until his retirement in 1950. ...

, who held the World Professional Billiards Championship from 1933 until his retirement in 1950. The game remains popular in the UK, although it has been eclipsed by

As a sport

The first governing body of the game, the Billiards Association, was formed in the UK in 1885, a period that saw a number of sporting bodies founded across the British sporting world. By the mid-20th century, the principal sanctioning body was the

Billiards Association and Control Council The Billiards and Snooker Control Council (B&SCC) (formerly called the Billiards Association and Control Council (BA&CC)) was the governing body of the games of English billiards and snooker and organised professional and amateur championships ...

(later the Billiards and Snooker Control Council), formed in 1919 by an amalgamation of the Billiards Association and the Billiards Control Club (founded in 1908). In the 19th century and up through the mid-1950s, a common way for championship titles to change hands was by a ''challenge match''. A challenge was issued to a championship title holder accompanied by money held by a third party. Up until the first organised professional tournament in 1870, all English billiards champions were decided by challenge. The first champion was Jonathan Kentfield, who held the title from 1820 to 1849, losing it to

John Roberts Sr. John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

after Kentfield refused his challenge. Roberts's 21-year reign lasted until he lost to William Cook in 1870. That year was also the first in which an English billiards challenge match was held in the United States. From 1870 to 1983 the champions were: John Roberts Jr., (1870, 1871, 1875–77, 1885); Joseph Bennett, (1870, 1880–81);

Charles Dawson Charles Dawson (11 July 1864 – 10 August 1916) was a British amateur archaeologist who claimed to have made a number of archaeological and palaeontological discoveries that were later exposed as frauds. These forgeries included the Piltdown ...

, (1899–1900, 1901, 1903); H. W. Stevenson, (1901, 1909–11); Melbourne Inman, (1908–09, 1912–19); Willie Smith, (1920, 1923); Tom Newman, (1921–22, 1924–27); Joe Davis, (1928–32);

, (1933–50); Clark McConachy, (1951-68); Rex Williams, (1968–76, 1982–83); and Fred Davis, (1980). A "Women's Billiard Association" was formed in Britain in 1931. One of the founders was Teresa Billington-Greig who had been a leading suffragette and was then married to a billiard ball manufacturer. Over the course of the 20th century, English billiards was largely superseded as the favoured cue sport in the United Kingdom by

and the rise of English-style eight-ball pool. The game does retain some popularity amongst snooker players, who can use the same equipment for both games and play the game to practice ball control.

Rules

Balls and table

There are three balls. They are the same size as snooker balls (52.5 mm or in with a tolerance of 0.05 mm) and they must weigh the same to a tolerance of 0.5 g within a set. The balls are designated as: :* White – the for player 1, and an for player 2 :* Yellow – the cue ball for player 2, and an object ball for player 1 (historically a white ball with spots was used) :* Red – an object ball for both players The

billiard table A billiard table or billiards table is a bounded table on which cue sports are played. In the modern era, all billiards tables (whether for carom billiards, pool, pyramid or snooker) provide a flat surface usually made of quarried slate, that ...

used has the same dimensions as in snooker, and in many venues, both games are played on the same equipment. The playing area of a standard tournament table measures 11 feet 8 inches by 5 ft 10 in (3.569 m by 1.778 m) with a tolerance of inch (1.26 cm) in both directions, though smaller ones, down to half size, are often found in

snooker hall A billiard, pool or snooker hall (or parlour, room or club; sometimes compounded as poolhall, poolroom, etc.) is a place where people get together for playing cue sports such as pool, snooker or carom billiards. Such establishments commonly serve ...

pubs A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

and home

billiard room A billiard room (also billiards room, or more specifically pool room, snooker room) is a recreation room, such as in a house or recreation center, with a billiards, pool or snooker table. (The term "billiard room" or "pool room" may also be us ...

Beginning the game

To see who will be the starting player, players perform a , where both simultaneously hit a cue ball up the table, bouncing it off the top cushion so that it returns to (the first quarter-length of the table). The player who gets their ball closer to the baulk cushion can now choose which cue ball they want to use during the game and to break or let the opponent break. The red ball is placed on the at the of the table (same as the in snooker) and the first player begins by playing in-hand from behind the baulk line. The other cue ball remains off the table until the opponent's first turn, when they play in hand from the "D". The idea is to leave the balls by creating either a double baulk (both object balls in baulk), or the red in baulk with the cue-ball () to the top-side cushion.

Scoring

Points are awarded as follows: * – striking the cue ball so that it hits, in any order, the other cue ball and the red ball on the same shot: 2 points. * (or , in snooker terms) – striking the ''red ball'' with one's cue ball so that the red enters a pocket: 3 points; or striking the ''other cue ball'' with one's cue ball so that the other cue ball enters a pocket: 2 points. * ( in snooker terms) – striking one's cue ball so that it hits another ball and then enters a pocket: 3 points if the red ball was hit first; 2 points if the other cue ball was hit first; 2 points if the red and the other cue ball are hit simultaneously. Combinations of the above may all be scored on the same shot. The most that can be scored in a single shot is therefore 10 – the red and the other cue ball are both potted via a cannon (the red must be struck first), and the cue ball is also potted, making a losing hazard off the red. The winner is determined by a player reaching a fixed number of points set at the start of the game, or by which player is leading at the end of a timed game.

Other rules

If the red is potted it is on the spot at the top of the table (the black spot). After the red has been potted twice off the spot in a row (i.e. without a cannon or losing hazard), it is respotted on the . If the middle spot is occupied, it goes on the (the pink spot in snooker). If both the middle and pyramid spots are occupied, it goes back on the spot. When potted from the middle or pyramid spot, it returns to the spot at the top of the table. After a losing hazard, play continues in-hand from the "D". When playing from in-hand, a striker must touch a ball or cushion out of baulk before striking a ball in baulk. If playing in-hand and all balls on the table are in baulk, and contact is not made with any ball, this is a miss; 2 points are awarded to the opponent, who must play from where the balls have come to rest. If an opponent's cue ball is potted, it remains off the table until it is that opponent's turn to play, when it is returned to that player, who may play it in-hand from the "D". There is one exception to this rule: only 15 hazards in a row may be played, after which a cannon is needed to continue the break. If only the red ball is on the table at the start of the break (meaning a cannon cannot be made), then after 15 hazards the opponent's ball must be placed on the "brown spot". It becomes a "line ball" and may not be played directly from baulk. If the cue ball is touching an object ball, then the balls must be respotted: red on its spot and opponent's ball in the centre spot, with the striker to play from in-hand. Matches held under professional regulations include a rule forcing the player to execute a shot in a way to have his cue ball cross the baulk line, heading towards the baulk cushion, once between 80 and 99 points in every 100 in a running break.

Fouls

If a foul occurs, two points are awarded to the opposing player who has the choice of playing from where the balls lie or they can be respotted. There are a few different ways a foul can occur by: *Playing/Striking the opponent's cue ball or Red object ball *Making any ball jump off the table *Failing to make contact between one's cue ball and at least one object ball (unless double baulked) *A double-hit or push shot *Jumping one's cue ball over an object ball *Playing a 16th consecutive hazard or 76th consecutive cannon *When in-hand, not hitting an object ball or cushion out of baulk before hitting a ball in baulk.

Notes

References

* * * * Copied from the ''Rochester Democrat'', which published the article on 18 January 1885. * * *

External links

* ( World Billiards Official website) *
Event results and Rankings
*
Official Rules of the Games of Snooker and English Billiards
Published by WPBSA, revised May 2022 {{Cue sports nav

Billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . There are three major subdivisions ...